


White city

by numbika



Category: Discworld - Terry Pratchett
Genre: Family Fluff, M/M, One Shot, Young Commander, remembering, something soft for these trying times, young Vimes - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:40:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27148163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/numbika/pseuds/numbika
Summary: Winter arrived in Ankh-Morpork, and at the same time, childhood memories appeared in the Commander's mind, springing up all from the depths of his heart.
Relationships: Havelock Vetinari/Samuel Vimes
Comments: 8
Kudos: 29





	White city

Winter arrived in Ankh-Morpork, shook his hat, and a snow-white veil fell from its brim, covering the entire city. The sky was obscured by dazzling white clouds in the morning, which turned to orange in the evening. Icicles stretched along the eaves and frost flowers bloomed on the windows and windowsills.

The Commander of the City Watch lazily smoked under a protruding eave, holding his arms tightly around him to keep his fingers a warm from the cold. This was the first serious snowfall, and thus the real start of Winter, and thanks to this, Ankh-Morpork was looking forward to a quiet evening. At least quieter than usual.

Vimes let out a large puff of smoke from his lips, mixing it with his visible breath. The cigarette butt glowed stronger for one last time before a lazy motion landed it in a nearby pile of snow. The snowflakes immediately extinguished its small flicker.

 _One last round_ , he murmured to himself as he wrapped the black scarf around his face. He blew a hard breath into the thick material to warm his nose somewhat.

Of course, the snow won’t last long, nothing last long if left alone on Ankh-Morporks streets. Everyone knew this and everyone was waiting for it to be over. That’s why it was considered quiet this night, and yet.

_And yet, you preferred to make another round instead of going home._

This, however, wasn't entirely true. Vimes was aware of this, too, but his honor vehemently denied this.

The current snowfall was not just the sign of the beginning of winter. The snowflakes had been falling for the last two hours and the Commander was lounging at the corner of Prog Alley, watching a growing snowdrift at the Teachers' Guilds gate. There hadn't been such a snowfall in years, and the Commander had a- one would risk calling it juvenile - urge, to just hide himself under a relatively snow-free eave hands in his pockets, and watched the city change.

The roofs were the first to turn to white, and then the eaves also got filled by the endless snowflakes. The streets, no matter how hardy they were, soon got blanketed by the untouched snow. And within a few hours, Ankh-Morpork's gray-brown-green color scheme was covered with sparkling white.

At the same time, childhood memories appeared in the Commander's mind, springing up all from the depths of his heart.

_He stared out of the window, watching the city, at least those parts that he can see. Standing on his toes he just reached the windowsill, under which the cold air slithered in and pinched his nose and face. Still, he couldn't take his eyes off the outside landscape. Everything, but everything turned snow white! If he jumped up, he could see that the street was covered with a white blanket, a large, huge sheet with no wrinkles on it. How much will the snow grow? What if it gets all the way up to the door? Is there so much snow in the world at all? And what will they do with so much water once it melts?_

_These thoughts chased each other through his head as he heard the footsteps behind him._

_"Sam? Why aren’t you asleep?"_

_He spun backwards and saw his mother standing there with a small candlestick in her hand. The candle was just shy of burning out completely, and she looked at him with sleepy eyes._

_"I just…it's just, so white outside!" He answered after some hesitation and glanced over his shoulder._

_"Oh," she smiled as she walked closer, and Sam relaxed that he was not in trouble. "The city looks completely different now."_

_"I've never seen so much snow before," young Sam took her mother's hand, who began to rub her son's cold fingers._

_"I did a long time ago. If it last until morning, we'll take a walk around the town. When the weather is like that every street looks different ..."_

_"Good! I will make some snowballs! And now I won't even have to put ice in to stick together." Sam nodded with a wide and excited smile._

_"Alright, but now let's go to sleep, or you will end up catching a cold, come on." Carefully, her mother led him back to the inner room, which was the smallest and thus could be best heated during winter. Hiding in bed, he felt his mother beside him as she slowly caressed his head._

_"Good night, dear."_

_"Good night, mum."_

_He could hear her steady breathing as she fell asleep, but her hand still stayed on his head. It didn’t bother him, he just snuggled closer to her and fell asleep with an excited and happy smile._

The Commander of the City Watch pulled the scarf up on his face. For a few moments, an old Ankh-Morpork came to mind, then sighed slowly.

It was close to midnight when the weather finally started to soften.

It was silent. Of course, this was the usual silence of the city, mixed with muffled sounds of animals, shouts, the opening and closing of windows and doors, and the rattle of the nighttime chariots. Yet the Commander could almost feel the silence in his limbs. And something else too.

His legs started to walk towards the snowdrift on their own. He pulled his hands out of his pockets, and after rubbing them together, reached down. Moments later, he looked up and aimed.

The snowball disappeared over the roof in almost total silence. Then another joined and one more and one more. His fingers became numb from the cold, he had to warm them up between each ball, and the scarf slid lower on his face. The snow crackled under his boots as he leaned back to give them momentum. He watched the path of the snowballs with a wide smile.

A few streets away, a candle was still burning in a room of the Patricians Palace. Sitting at the desk of the ruler of the city, he slowly read a diplomatic letter comparing the two reports attached to it. A black mug was steaming at the edge of his desk. The man raised his pen, then stopped in mid-motion as he heard the approaching tiny footsteps.

Lord Vetinari reached down and took the tiny roll of paper.

He read what was written on it, and then again, and again, his smile softened more and more with each sentence. He finally slipped the paper into the chest pocket of his dress and began writing again.

**Author's Note:**

> I've have finally finished my exams, so I can write again. yey!


End file.
